A ‘Louis’ for Lewis — Yale alumnus Lewis Black, that is

March 15, 2013

Stand-up comedian, actor, and author Lewis Black will return to his alma mater, Yale University, on Monday, April 1, to present a campus talk and receive the third annual “Louis” award presented by Mory’s, the famed club in the heart of the Yale campus.

"The Louis" recognizes alumni from Yale’s graduate and undergraduate programs who have made extraordinary achievements in their field on the national or international level.

Black, who holds a M.F.A. from Yale School of Drama (1977), will appear in conversation with fellow drama alumnus Mark Linn Baker ’79 M.F.A. (perhaps best known as Larry Appleton on the television show “Perfect Strangers”) at 5 p.m. in the Law School’s Levinson Auditorium, 127 Wall St. This part of the event is open to all members of the Yale community.

The discussion will be followed by a reception and dinner for Mory’s members and their guests at 6 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively, at Mory’s, 306 York St. For information about attending those events, call 203-562-3157 or send an email to rsoltesz@morys1849.org.

Black began performing stand-up comedy as an undergraduate at the University of North Carolina, and continued with it as he pursued his career in theater. As playwright-in-residence at the West Bank Café’s Downstairs Theatre Bar in New York City, Black oversaw the development of more than 1,000 plays, including some of his own. He left the West Bank in the late 1980s to pursue stand-up full time.

The comedian has for years appeared on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” in a segment called “Back in Black,” a three-minute rant about whatever is bothering him at the moment. He also taped numerous specials for the network — work that earned him the distinction of Best Male Stand-Up at the American Comedy Awards in 2001 — and he has appeared in several movies.

Black has written three best-selling books and over 40 plays, many of which have been produced around the country. He has received five Grammy nominations — and won twice — for his comedy albums. One of his television specials, “Red, White, and Screwed,” was nominated for an Emmy in 2007. He also had a regular feature for two seasons on “Inside the NFL,” for which he earned a Sports Emmy.

Offstage, the comedian is involved with several charities, including the 52nd Street Project, where he established the Ron Black Memorial Scholarship Fund in memory of his late brother. In 2012 he was honored for his social activism by the ACLU of Georgia, which gave him its National Civil Liberties Award.